Kristen Gardner Beal and Lance Lemon, founders of RichWine and owners of the forthcoming Penny’s (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
Lance Lemon and Kristen Gardner Beal always knew they wanted to open a bottle shop. A place that doubles as a heady hangout, where a cozy couch and a bottle of low-intervention wine can spark long conversations, blending familiarity and discovery.
Following the mantra of “good wine and good food,” the founders of delivery service RichWine have spent the last two years establishing themselves as go-to wine purveyors, encouraging people to sip biodynamic and organic selections, earning the trust and quenching the thirst of wine drinkers around the region.
In February, the gregarious duo will introduce Penny’s, a wine and tapas shop in Jackson Ward at 405 Brook Road, taking over the former Stoplight Gelato space.
“I’ve always said, wine is a gathering place for both of us. We came to wine through similar paths and also have our own stories about it, but we definitely want folks to walk into the space and feel like they have a place at any table,” Gardner Beal says.
Focused on hospitality and suckers for shooting the breeze about wine, the two 30-somethings envision creating a place that is accessible and affordable to the community.
Both born in Hanover County, Lemon and Gardner Beal first met in high school. Both attended the University of Virginia and landed post-graduation in New York, where their Brooklyn apartments just happened to be a mile apart. Over the years, their infatuation with the grape would evolve from a hobby into a vision for operating their own business.
Settling in Richmond within five months of each other, they established RichWine in September 2020. While a delivery service wasn’t their original plan, the two years they spent ferrying boxes of bottles to doorsteps may have been just what they needed.
“We laugh — like, we’re still slinging wine and cranking out deliveries,” Lemon says, “but it built our brand and built our business, and we realized that the opportunity for us [is] to showcase not just a wine delivery service and shop, but bring a little bit more of a personal feel … making it accessible and fun in our little home town of Richmond.”
Members of the company’s wine club are in the hands of Lemon, who personally selects three to four bottles a month that may include anything from a Virginia-bred Blenheim Vineyards Rkatsiteli, ideal for a fall day, to a Weingut Schmitt rosé from Rheinhessen, Germany, that they declare “reminds us of the cherry Warhead candies we got as kids.”
While RichWine has been known to focus on low-intervention, biodynamic and organic selections, Lemon says, “It’s a pillar, not the foundation. We do carry traditional wines, too. I think it’s important to be able to differentiate if you want to differentiate in wine.”
Lemon says they plan to be stocked with about 50 to 60 bottles upon opening Penny’s. Whether customers are just dipping their toes into the world of wine or experienced imbibers with curious palettes, Gardner and Lemon aim to help them figure out what they like and don’t like, breaking down the basics and building on established foundations.
“The interaction of food and dining and service and the experience of eating out, that’s what the overall picture showed us that we need to be doing, and that’s what Richmond really wants,” Lemon says.
Following Stoplight Gelato’s closure, Gardner, a Jackson Ward resident, connected with its previous owners. Since obtaining the building, Lemon and his father (who also aided in bringing Kelli Lemon’s Urban Hang Suite to life) have been giving it an uplift. The dangling stoplight centerpiece will remain, as will the frozen treat. “We’re going to be taking the reins, but in the heart and soul of this place, Stoplight Gelato is still here,” Lemon says, adding that they will serve about a dozen flavors of gelato.
While carrying on the torch of Stoplight Gelato, Penny’s also honors the history of the neighborhood. The name refers to St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank, which opened in 1903 at 900 St. James St. in Jackson Ward. Founded by Richmond icon Maggie L. Walker, the bank aimed to counter the effects of racial segregation while encouraging economic independence in the Black community. “Let us put our money together; let us use our money; let us put our money out at usury among ourselves, and reap the benefit ourselves,” she said.
“It is a nod to the savings bank and history of Jackson Ward,” Gardner Beal says, noting that the interior of Penny’s is fittingly dotted with copper tones. “Also, with our ties of being a Black-owned business, I spent 10 years in banking; it’s just a great way to pay homage — we’re investing our time and money into this.”
Crafting a menu of small plates and tapas-style bites at Penny’s is Emmanuel Baiden, a native of Ghana, James Madison University hospitality program graduate and founder of the private chef service Manny Eats. Penny’s owners describe it as an ideal pre- or post-dinner spot where kicking it with a glass of Saumur-Champigny from the Loire Valley or snagging a bottle and accoutrements to go is encouraged.
Over the next two months, Penny’s will host private events and potentially a series of tastings where attendees can sign up in advance. The soft opening will take place at the end of January, followed by an official launch in February.
RichWine recently hosted the inaugural and sold-out Two Up, Wine Down festival in Charlottesville that focused on shining a spotlight on BIPOC wine professionals, enthusiasts and allies throughout the state. Gardner Beal and Lemon aspire to bring the same comfort and down-to-earth feel they’ve established at RichWine over the last two years into this new venture.
“This space just made so much sense; this has always been the plan,” Lemon says of finally finding a home for their brick-and-mortar vision to unfold. “We wanted to feel out the little pocket we wanted to be in, and Jackson Ward, this is a great little area for it.”
